last entry

Hey all,

Things have changed so much here in the last three months, I don't even know where to start.  Scott and I have gone our separate ways though we are still best friends.  I'm buying my own little house over in West Dawson.  The only thing we can't agree on amicably is who gets which dog. 

My boss, the vet, was in a bad motorcycle accident and lots of time has been dedicated to both fundraising to help him through this very difficult time and finding a different job since he definitely won't be returning to work this summer.  Also, I missed a meeting for the Humane Society and now I'm the president. lol.  What else?  Oh, I'm making soy candles too.  Wanna buy some? 

So this is likely my last entry, at least for awhile.  Thanks for following in our adventures in Dawson. 

02:45 - Saturday, June 21, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

A month later

Hey all,

Sorry I haven't been a diligent poster.  Life has been busy, as always.  I was supposed to work out at the vet today but he ended up having to go to Forty mile early for the Percy DeWolfe dogsled race, so I have some time to blog! 

So, what's new?  Well, the days are getting much longer and it's light out before we wake up at 7:30 and only just getting dark around 10pm.  It snowed quite a bit the beginning of this week but the last couple of days have been gorgeous.  it's still cold at night, usually about -25 but it's getting closer and closer to the plus numbers during the day....the forecast continues to be for warmer weather but the weather just hasn't quite been living up to environment canadas expectations.  There is still snow all over the ground, including on the roads, but the wind has blown it all off of the trees, which is nice.  And the clear night last night, combined with a good movie that kept us up late, led to our discovery that the aurora was out and it was awesome--I posted pics in our photo album (link in sidebar). 

What to tell you about this past month: 

It was Spring break:  we went to Whitehorse, which was fun.  Got to have my bath finally and to eat sushi (twice!).  Our friend, Evelyn, housesat for us and it went completely smoothly except her dogs did not want to sleep outside and kept them up all night whining and barking.  The entire drive there and back we didn't see a single animal, which was disappointing.  But it was also peaceful as we were able to leave our dogs at home.

We went up the Dempster twice:  The first time it was just me and Scott and we saw a big moose but didn't' get the camera out in time.  Last weekend we went up the Dempster with our friends Anne and Nathan for the day.  We made eggs benedict in the van and we went for a pretty snowshoe trek and then we played Magic for a couple of hours before heading back.  Fun times.  They are heading off to Hawaii and then to Southeast Asia for 18 months!  Don't you just hate them!!!!! 

We have been prepping for break-up which should begin somewhere mid to end April and last until mid May.  I have to make sure we have enough food, wood, gas, water, entertainment, etc...and when I say we, I mean me.  I'll be here on my own again....I can't wait!!! Just me and the animals out here in the woods, waiting for the loud booming of the river breaking (I totally bet I can hear it from here). 

And summer is coming:  only 2 more months of school.   We still have lots to do to prep for late Spring. There are bedding plants to consider, clearing snow and trees from the house site, building the chicken coop (yep! I talked him into it!!!), putting the siding on the house (I'm so sick of looking at the blue foam stuff), finishing up the cold storage Scott's been building me under the kitchen, and much much more. 

A couple of really exciting things: 

I posed for the Dawson City Girls Calendar.  It was an awesome experience, a once in a lifetime opportunity.  and it was fun.  And my pictures came out really great!  The photographer was very professional (as the photographs are taken  in various stages of undress, though I'm covered with furs and other things), the wind was cold (lots of the pics were taken outside), and when we got to see the pics a few nights later I was very intimidated because, since we were planning on watching a movie with the photographer on his projector (he is a neighbour), we looked at my pics for the first time on this giant projector screen!  But they were great!  I was so happy.  And no, I will not be posting them.  lol. 

The other very exciting thing is that Scott and I have been taking the Hunter Education course this week.  We'll be armed well before the summertime.  Though I'm even more sure now that I could never shoot a bear, wolf, or beaver.  They just don't seem like food to me, they seem more like distant relations.  In so many ways.  So this year I want to hunt grouse and maybe hunt one big game animal with the help of a very experienced hunter.  I'll do more tracking and stalking than actual shooting while I gain experience.  and lots of target practice, for sure.  I am learning lots from the course:  how to differentiate between male and female of various species, how to take the proper precautions against spoiling the meat,   things like that. 

Other things that happened:  My friend CJ, who moved away, came back to visit for about a week.  We had a girls night (5 girls) out and started the evening at Antionette's, the only fancy restaurant in town!  I had frog's legs for the first time in my life--and they were really good.  I helped put on the Thaw Di Gras Dog Show.  Fun fun.  That same weekend I went out with a girlfriend to the lip sync at Diamond Tooth Gerties casino and had a really great time, though I left before it was over.  I worked some shifts out at the Humane Society's shelter.  Very gratifying. Scott finished the carpentry course he was teaching and is now prepping his entry for the Skills Canada competition (for the Yukon) which happens not this coming weekend but the next.  His birthday was on Tuesday, which is the day he went back to work after the long weekend and also the day he started his course, but it was still a pretty good day.  We'd had our day up the Dempster with our friends in lieu.  And oh! oh!  I finally got an oven!  A cute little propane oven just big enough to cook for two.  It's about time, eh? And I'm sure there are more things that happened that are just not occuring to me right now.

I think that's about it.  Life goes on as usual.  Our days consist of caring for our animals, feeding the woodstove, hauling water, working our various jobs, and volunteering fairly regularly around town (Scott and I are doing the bar for the Percy banquet as a fundraiser for HSD this weekend).  We no longer need lights, candles, or lamps  unless we stay up late, which is really great...though we know that soon we will have to pull out the sleeping masks if we want to sleep at all.  It feels like there are more hours with which to get things done, which is really great.  Because there are lots of things to do. 

Speaking of getting things done, I have to get to my chores.  Hope you all are well and happy.  Smell a flower or walk barefoot in the grass for me if you are reading this from down south. 

11:22 - Thursday, March 27, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

What you all missed

It finally warmed up here around the 10th or 11th.  Just in time for me to start working again.  I subbed at the library or the school every day from then until this past Saturday.  It's been busy.  As you may have known, the Yukon Quest came through Dawson not this past weekend but the previous one.  I volunteered at the concession and at the vet shack though not much exciting happened during either shift.  At the concession I was able to follow the news of our two local mushers having to backtrack back to Fortymile due to a snowstorm obscuring the trail dangerously.  They had to stay quite awhile along with a third musher.  But they eventually got through and I took the grade 8s down to the dyke to see them leave on Monday morning last week.  Cor dropped out of the race shortly after leaving Dawson; the rumour is that his dogs just weren't into it anymore....it's too hard to arrive at home after 500 miles of race and then tell them they have to keep going.  But Anne did keep going.  And she finished Saturday morning in 13th place.  I'm so happy for her.  What an accomplishment.  Lance Mackey may have won the race for the 4th year in a row, which is amazing, but just to have finished the gruelling journey of the Yukon Quest, which began in -50 C temperatures and threw snowstorms and other hurdles at them is a feat to be extremely proud of!!!

Another fun thing that happened here this week was the eclipse.  I hope you all were in a situation to see it.  Scott picked me up from work and we took the sled up the second dome to the fire tower.  We were the first ones there and got to watch the cars getting stuck in the snow trying to go up to the Midnight Dome.  But a group of folks showed up shortly thereafter where we were and we all looked and looked for the eclipse that was supposed to be taking place but could see nothing but a low cloud cover hanging just above the mountains in the direction the moon was supposed to be in.  After awhile the other folks had given up and left and a couple of other skidoos had arrived but were staying with their machines as opposed to coming over to where the cabin and the little lookout platform are.  So we decided to wander over to our own skidoo and lo and behold:  there it is, I can't really say in all its glory as it was small and faded due to the cloud cover but it was orange and it was there.  We didn't stay for much longer as it was very windy up there making it much colder.  But we got to see it finishing up on the way home from our side of the river.  It was beautiful.  And the little skidoo adventure was well worth it, especially after having been limited to the indoors for so long during that cold snap. 

Anyways, I have to tell you that the days are gettng longer and it's wonderful.  We're not fooling ourselves though, winter is still far from over here.  Even if the -20 to -30 range feels almost balmy after -50, Spring doesn't really arrive until break-up which is 2 months away yet.  But for now I'll take the sun in all it's glory, At this point of the winter we're all in need of a good dose of Sol's warm rays. 

Hope you are all well and happy.

04:31 - Monday, February 25, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

It's still COLD

The generator is running, amazingly, considering it's almost -50 C still so I thought I'd fill you all in while I can. 

Everything gets cancelled when it's this cold.  In the past two weeks of -40 to -50 degree weather:  two trips to Whitehorse, a worm composting workshop, a community planning meeting, 2 doctors appointments, a games night, and 4 days of subbing for me have been cancelled due to the weather.  And that's just what has affected us personally.  In other words:  the house is getting really, really organized.  In fact, we had to move the woodbox into the house to deal with the amount of wood we've been burning and the amount of cold air we've been letting in when we bring wood in.  it's so cold that there is ice covering all of the downstairs windows and is even creeping in through any little space it can find...we are discovering the places where we didn't insulate properly this way.  But it's all fixable and soffits will make a difference next year. 

We had an interesting day today...at Scott's expense.  He had a dental emergency and, of course, there's no way to get to Whitehorse when it's this cold so we called on the retired dentist who lives in town.  Scott had one tooth pulled on Saturday and had to book a sub today to deal with an emergency root canal on another tooth today.  Retired dentist is a very good sport and we pick him up on the way to the college where the dentist chair and equipment is kept.  We had our dogs with us and he kindly lets Milo jump right into his lap (thats one of those "you know he's a good guy when...." statements).  He even let our dogs come into the waiting room!  Now, here's the best part:  he can't do the root canal without my help!  That's right...only in Dawson.  I totally had to work the suction thingy for him for 3 and a half hours while he drilled into Scott's mouth.  How cool is that?!  Unfortunately, the college makes me ill (I seem to be allergic to something in the air-it's a hundred year old building) so I had to cancel a meeting I had tonight because I felt like crap. 

It's Quest time again.  This year we know two of the mushers:  our friend Anne Ledwidge is running the race this year as well as the guy from whose line Oreo comes-Cor Guimond.   Race begins Feb 9 and starts in Fairbanks this year.  I wish them both smooth trails and somewhat warmer weather. 

Please send warmer thoughts our way.  -30s would be sufficient.

03:33 - Wednesday, February 6, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Caught in a lie.

Remember I said it was cold out? I lied.  Now it's cold!

Okay, so this morning environment canada says it's -49 C.  And we are supposed to hit -50 a couple of times over the next few days.  That kinda sucks.

I walked to town yesterday.  I should tell you what this invoves, for those of you in balmier climates.  First I have to make sure there is plenty of wood in the stove and turn the stove right down and hope and pray that it's still warm in here when we get home.  Then I have to put on my mukluks, my snowpants (thanks Scott's grandparents for the awesome 1970something snowsuits), two neck warmers, my scarf, my toque, my parka, and my mitts...with extra mitts stored in the inside pocket of the parka.  Then I have to tie my poor dogs up outside (though yesterday I couldn't make the clasp on Milo's chain work so he got to stay inside (lucky dog)) making sure they have plenty of straw.  Then I had to come back inside to warm my toes and fingers up again before I left.  I took the long way into town, fearing being frozen to death should I fall on the steep hill involved in the short cut and not be able to get up.  The first 1/3 or so of the walk was quite pleasant but then coming down the hill and to the river there was ice fog and I could feel the temperature drop quite a bit.  I can barely see because I have so much of my face covered by my toque and my neck warmer and my furry parka hood and it's all covered in frost by then, including the strands of hair that came free and immediately froze to my face.  I do notice as I'm crossing the river that there are dozens of new cracks...and big cracks, too.  Some of them I can see down several feet.  I walked faster than one is supposed to walk when it's that cold out until I reached the other side.  I only saw one other person on my entire walk to the school.  A lady was walking her dog down by the river.  No cars either.  It's too cold to be driving. 

A sad note on my walk.  On Saturday some folks from Sunnydale mounted a huge (15 feet?) Inukshuk made of ice blocks in the middle part of the ice bridge.  On my walk over I noticed it had been knocked down.  I saw Holly in the library (where I was working), who orchestrated the building and moving of the monument and he said there were parts of somebody's tail lights around the pile of broken ice.  So someone did it on purpose!!!! It would have been such a welcome sight for the mushers to arrive to during the Quest. 

Anyways, it's too cold.  I'm staying inside today.  Do you blame me? 

05:06 - Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

-45

06:43 - Sunday, January 27, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Bloody Cold

My stepdad always used to insert the word "bloody" before anything he was not impressed with.  I guess it was an English thing.  Most often used in my case as "you bloody idiot". 

Anyways, today I am using that particular word to describe the cold that is coming.  The forecast for Sunday is high of -38 C, low of -41.  Monday is worse at high of -41 and low of -47 and Tuesday takes the cake at a low of -48.  Now that is bloody cold. 

When it's that cold things break.  All sorts of things you wouldn't expect to break.  Plastic becomes so brittle it is totally unreliable.  And the belts in your vehicle snap like Rice Krispies.  What that means for us is that we are likely having to cancel our trip to Whitehorse.  Which sucks.  Scott really needs to attend this Wilderness First Aid course and I was really looking forward to several baths. 

Besides, with it being so cold here our house becomes work for housesitters.  The dogs need to sleep inside, the stove must be kept hot all the time, you really should not run the generator and if we do we have to bring it inside overnight first to thaw it out.  The atv will not start at those temperatures and we'll be very lucky if the skidoo starts.  That means walking.  They don't close the school up here because it's cold. Unless a pipe bursts or something. 

So, wherever you are, if you are complaining that it's cold out, just remember us up here in -48 C.  That should make you feel just a bit warmer:) 

Please send warm thoughts our way. 

04:24 - Friday, January 25, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

what we're up to

Hey everybody,

Thought I'd write a quick post to update y'all.  Things have been busy here.  Last week I subbed for the kindergarten teacher.  Now, what I want to know is who's brilliant idea was it to get rid of am/pm kindergarten?  It was a madhouse!  One of the more difficult jobs I've had in my life, that's for sure.  But it's over now.  Scott is uber-busy with his courses and two nights a week he won't be home until after 9 or 10 pm.  Long days for him.  As of Sunday we are off to Whitehorse so that he can take some kind of wilderness leadership course.  That will be fun for him.  And for me.  I get to spend the time shopping, lounging, and bathing!  I'm going to lay in that tub every day until I am one giant prune.  Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying my 'rubbermaid baths' a couple of times a week but it does not compare to the real thing.  We don't even have enough pots to get the water up halfway.  And it's a bitch to haul outside to dump out.  So you can imagine how much I look forward to going to Whitehorse.  But of course, after spending 5 days there I'm sure I'll be happy to come back to my rubbermaid bathtub.  Hmmmm...what else is new?  I have an exam on Saturday mornin-five days early due to the last minute trip to Whitehorse.  This will be my business math final....hopefully I'll do substantially better than I did on the mid-term, which, if you recall, I also had to take early because of the sudden onset of freeze-up....and that one didn't go so well.  On the bright side of school:  I just finished a senior Anthropology course with an A+, got my statement of grades today.  yay me. 

Wow, that's all pretty freakin' boring, eh?  But what else can I tell ya?  It's cold.  The last couple of days we've been seeing the sun again, so that's good.  We can use it at this point.  Everyone's getting tired from the lack of it.  Okay life is boring so I have nothing more to say.  Hope you all are having more fun that we are:)

07:31 - Monday, January 21, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Catch up

Hey all.  Sorry I haven't blogged for so long.  Shortly after my last entry our powerhub blew up (moisture from thawing the house, I guess) so we haven't had much power--only when the generator is running, which it is currently. 

It's been a most pleasant holiday season:

A few weeks ago  Scott and I and our friends Guy and Evelyn and Evelyn's daughter Sam got bundled up in all of our best cold weather gear and headed up the Top of the World Highway (which is only open right now to km 4, as far as it will be open until late Spring) on our skidoos. Our goal: the fortymile caribou herd. Guy had seen some caribou a few days previous and so we knew there would be a good chance of seeing them. We saw 2 on the road in front of us in about the same place he'd seen them previously but we scared them away in our excitement (these are shown in the pictures posted taken by Evelyn on my profile). We decided to go a little further, even though us girls were all a little cold. We looped off of the highway onto a little ridge road that would join back up with the highway heading back and climbed a ways further. Guy, Evelyn, and Sam were just ahead of us when they pulled over and Guy encouraged us on, saying he'd just scared some off of the road. We went a few more meters when Scott stopped and I looked up just in time to see two big caribou leaping away from right next to us, going up the hillside. I guess Scott had stopped because there was also one in the roadway right in front of us, though I didn't see that one (I gave Sam my helmet so I was without eye protection and so keeping my head down when we were moving). The two that had leapt away and one other one hung around less than 30 yards or so away until we decided to leave. I've never been that close to caribou before--two of them had decent sized racks and they also looked like they were shedding with a layer of long hair hanging over their usual coat...I'll have to find out what that is about. I've seen porcupine caribou before, up the Dempster, but I'd never seen the fortymile herd before, it was a wicked experience and well worth the cold toes.

Around the middle of the month our good friends Nathan and Anne had a Chinese Auction party with a wide variety of guests including a pastor's wife, the vet, a famous Yukon singer/songwriter, the owner of the local bike shop, and a couple of teachers as well as several other interesting people.  I felt like the big winner that night bringing home a really cool headlamp.  Very good time!!!

We celebrated the solstice by having a big party with lot's of neighbours attending.  We had a little impromptu live music with neighbours Jonathan (on an electric guitar) and Florian (on a djembe) and me, Laura, and Claudio taking turns between my tubano, bongos, and other percussion instruments--Guy even joined in making his own beats sans instrument.  It was a blast.  Much alcohol was consumed, we had a bonfire in the driveway, and I fell down the ladder and landed on my ass.  Our last guest left around 4am, long after the generator ran out of gas. 

For Christmas, Scott and I spent the day out at the humane society as we've done the last couple of years and then we went to a great Chinese Auction and Christmas dinner party at our neighbour, Brent's.  There were probably about 25 people in attendance, the food was spectacular--potluck, and there was much fighting over a few gifts during the auction part of the evening with Scott ending up the mighty victor ending the evening in possesion of a large bag Caveman Bill's Morels and some in a hand made birch bark container.  We'll be having morels with our moose steaks tonight. 

For New Years we were going to go to a bonfire with live music and dancing out in Sunnydale at Kirsten and Holly's place but my back was killing me and I was pmsing so we just stayed home.  We did however, go watch the fireworks from the back part of our property overlooking the river, where they set off the fireworks at the ferry landing.

The last couple of days have been fun, too.  i helped a neighbour cut up a hind quarter of moose he had hanging in his meat house.  All of these things I have to learn if I'm going to be a hunter.  Then I came home and tore apart my kitchen and, two days and six coats of paint, total, my kitchen no longer has ugly drywall showing!!!! We varied a bit from our original plan when we didn't like the green on the ceiling that we'd picked, so we painted it the same dark blue as the big living room wall and then we painted two of the walls bright red.  it looks awesome.  We are both very pleased with it and I'm feeling very proud cause I am a shitty painter and it actually looks pretty good. We were so happy with it we invited a neighbour, Florian, over to have sushi with us in our new kitchen.  Not only did we feast on tuna sashimi and tuna maki and yam tempura but we also played drums for awhile as Florian is a brilliant drummer (one of many skills).  He also serenaded us with his talents on the guitar and as a singer/songwriter.  I love having friends who are willing to entertain us in exchange for food and scotch!!!! lol.  It was a fabulous evening. 

So that's whats been up here.  We've also been going to town on getting more firewood cut and we're waiting on some parts for our skidoo.  Next week things get crazy.  Scott is taking a course one night a week and giving a course on another night during the week.  I have a week subbing for kindergarten coming up which I look forward to and then, I think in February I'll be subbing at the library for a couple of weeks.  I also have a course to finish up this month that I'm finding rather difficult. 

I'm going to upload some pics today.  I know it's been forever but keep in mind that it takes like 5 minutes per picture.  Very frustrating. 

I hope everyone is happy and well and has had a great holiday season. 

11:55 - Friday, January 4, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

-41 and fawlty housesitters

12:28 - Monday, December 3, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Don't mess with the donkey

Hey all,  sorry it's been a few days since my last post.  I've just been studying like mad-took an anthropology exam yesterday and have a psychology exam tomorrow before we leave for Whitehorse for the weekend.  Our friends Miriam and Robin will be housesitting for us...Robin loves Oreo.  Most people love Oreo...but truly, Milo is the best dog in the world. 

Okay, funny Yukon story:  last night Scott went to return some borrowed water containers to some folks that live on the more populated road in West Dawson.  Now these people have the nicest home out here-what constitutes as the nicest home out here?  Well, they have a flush toilet.  They also have a donkey (name of Bubbles or something along those lines).  Crystal explained to me when we first met why they have a donkey:  they have a 3 year old son and have just had a baby daughter in September and they figured that a donkey would allow them better access to the wilderness-it can carry gear, children, whatever.  As a bonus, Donkey's also make wicked guard "dogs" as they are very protective and tough as nails.  Scott discovered the truth behind this last night while returning said water containers.  I guess he went through their gate and the donkey pretty much attacked him.  He shouted for Greg and Crystal, meanwhile the donkey is chasing him around the yard.  Finally after attempting to bite his arm, the donkey got a hold of Scott's back.  Luckily Scott was wearing snow pants but even still--finally, Crystal came running out in her socks and got the donkey off of Scott.  I took a look when he got home and there is a wicked bite mark on his back.  I took pictures and will try to post one when I run the generator this afternoon.  We won't make any complaints or anything--the donkey is gated in and Scott did go into his "territory".  And I kind of hope that if our dogs (heaven forbid) should ever bite anyone that the victim would be as gracious and understanding. 

09:53 - Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Quick Catch-up

Hey all, I haven't posted in awhile because...well, there's nothing exciting going on.  Freeze-up is over, as I previously mentioned, though I have to admit that I haven't been across yet.  I plan on going Saturday morning.  Technically, the river is not open to traffic yet but people are driving across because they can.  We're not going to take our heavy-ass van across until it is officially open.  But Saturday I will go into town and do storytime at the library.  And have a real shower.  And do laundry in a proper washing machine.  And go grocery shopping.  You'd think I'd be excited but I'm not really.  I like being over here and cut off from the rest of the world.  Scott's been staying home at night and driving the skidoo across to work.  Tonight he starts a native tool carving workshop (as a student, no an instructor) so that will be fun for him.  Myself, I'm just plowing through the rest of my schoolwork for courses that end the end of the month.  We're planning a trip to Whitehorse not this coming weekend but the one after so that will be fun.  And that's it.  Life is boring but peaceful. 

Hope this post finds you all as happy and content as I am!

03:00 - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 21 and the end of freeze-up

I wrote this for facebook on Friday::

Well folks, it's almost over. My new friend, Guy, dropped off his cute 3 year old son with me this morning to go check out the ice. He walked across and ascertained that it would in fact be safe to take a skidoo across-and so they did. Now, that doesn't mean that I'll be crossing real soon. Give me another week, okay? But Scott is much braver than me and I think he'll walk across today or tomorrow (and I asked him to bring me a slurpee!).

So, I don't know if I'll log anything else unless something especially exciting happens. For those of you that are interested in the happenings in the north I'll still post an occasional note and you can always keep an eye on our blog.

Hope you've found my freeze-up experience somewhat entertaining despite no dog emergencies (only half true, we opened the first aid kit for the first time last night for an ear infection), no broken bones, and no -40 temps. We did however, have a plane crash and some chopper deliveries, so there was some excitement. Not to forget the wonderful parties and the opportunity to get to know my neighbours better. All in all I would have to say that I've really enjoyed these past three weeks of isolation and I can't wait to do it again in the spring for break-up.

Love you all. See you on the other side

Todays Update:

Guy, wonderful guy that he is, decided later on Friday, to surprise me by picking up Scott and bringing him home to me on his skidoo.  Isn't that just the nicest thing?  So I've had my honey home all weekend!!!  It's been really great except that I am feeling crappy like I'm getting a cold (one of the boys I had over to play was sick).  Yesterday someone groomed a good path across the ice for skidoos and Scott got our skidoo started up for the first time this year.  He is currently in town to pick up groceries and stuff except he forgot his wallet.  I will probably wait a few more days before I cross myself.  I'm a chicken, I admit.  The neighbours also came by last night to pick up Keno and bring him to town side.  So I would say that freeze-up is officially over.  I'm sad but next comes break up in April!!!  Can't wait for that. 

11:59 - Sunday, November 18, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 19-Ice Gossip

03:15 - Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

The Early Morning Hours of Day 18

02:01 - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 17

Day 17 and the end is nowhere in sight. The temperature is supposed to be rising throughout the week until the low is -9 on Friday. That’s no good at all.

.My play date on Saturday went really well though it left me totally exhausted. We read stories, played drums (along with harmonica and kazoo and various shaker-type instruments); we jumped on the bed; we made fart jokes and did alphabet burps (I totally failed on both accounts), and we played with my telescope and microscope and looked at an astronomy program that I have to see what stars are in our night sky right now. Over all, we had a very good time and I slept more soundly that night than I have in years. I couldn’t have 3 little boys aged 6-8 full time. I’m too old for that.

Yesterday was less eventful-I did chores, including washing my hair and doing laundry, and did schoolwork. This morning however, has been much more exciting. For those of you who don’t already know: IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!! I’ll be 32 just before midnight tonight. I woke up feeling sad…well, cause it was the 17th time in a row I’ve woken up alone and also it’s my birthday. But then I turned on the computer and there were so many messages. Thanks everybody! And then I set up skype and my webcam and talked to Scott, face-to-face (or as close as we can get right now) for about a half hour. It was very romantic, having reminded us of when we first met and he lived so far away from me. The rest of my day should prove to be exciting too. I’m waiting for a helicopter (it’s pretty overcast this morning) to arrive with fresh food and more chocolate (a girl can never have enough chocolate). And this evening I’m having some friends over for sushi and games. It will be fun.

Hope you all are less bored than I am. We’re due for some excitement anytime now, I’m sure.

02:00 - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 14 A party, some dates, and a plane crash.

Today was a good day.  And not only because I have chocolate.  And brie.  Nope today brought all sorts of good things. First a neighbour stopped in to bring me bread.  The same neighbour that visited me last night and was good enough to drink the evening away with me.  She's a sweetheart.  And then this evening I was invited to a potluck dinner at the home of the nearest neighbour that is here for freeze-up.  I almost didn't go...I was doing schoolwork and, as usual, I was feeling anti-social.  But, last minute I cooked up some potatoes and sausage (having not been to the grocery store for two weeks, my choices to feed many people were quite limited), grabbed a big bottle of rum, tied up the dogs, hopped on the atv and went.  And I'm glad I did.  The host's house is quite large which was good because pretty much all of West Dawson was there...let me think...12 adults and 5 children (including one baby) plus a few people from out in Sunnydale...4 adults and 2 children.  The food was great.  The kids were well behaved (bush kids usually are, it seems) but had a great time running around while the adults drank and yacked.  We were celebrating the success of some of the guests in having been granted the necessary liquor license to have their own distillery, the first one of its kind in the Yukon. The party was great.  Exceptional company, I have to say.  I'm so glad I went.  You know you live in a cool place when everybody has to put on their parkas or anoraks and you go outside and instead of cars and trucks the driveway is full of quads and snowmobiles.  And I walked away with some dates.  I have 3 handsome young men coming for a play date at my house on Saturday afternoon (the eldest is in grade 2) where we plan to read books and play drums.  It will be fun.  And tomorrow a new friend is coming out from Sunnydale to hang out with me while her husband goes out to cut wood with some neighbours.  And then one day next week, the same girl I hung out with last night and I are going to take our quad out to Sunnydale to see the crashed airplane.

yes, you heard me right.  I didn't hear about it until today (there are not a lot of phones over here) I guess on Halloween, while I had company, my friend Laura watched a bush plane crash into some trees right over their property and about 50 meters from the house belonging to the folks that were at my house at the time of the accident.  The way Laura tells it she saw the plane doing what she thought were "manuevers" and it was buzzing along when suddenly it came down and bumped the road and then went back up.  Suddenly the buzz cut out and the plane hit the tops of the trees and the tree it hit just kind of bent over and set the plane down...upsidedown and crunched all up...on the ground.  Well Laura and her husband ran to the plane and she saw the door open and the pilot get out (remember, he was upside down) and start throwing bags of dog food out of the plane.  I guess the dog food was covering the passenger, who lives right near where they crashed.  The passenger had a fair bit of blood on him and was airlifted to town.  I understand he is fine though.  CRAZY, huh?  That makes this a very exciting freeze-up. 

12:28 - Friday, November 9, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 13 And I got CHOCOLATE!

Hey all, today I have something exciting to report!!!  Yesterday afternoon a neighbour, Shelley walked her dog down to our cabin.  We had a very nice visit and she mentioned that some other neighbours, from upper West Dawson, we taking a helicopter over to this side this morning and then Shelley's partner would be taking the chopper back to town.  Well, when she left it was twenty to seven and the grocery store closes at 7pm.  So I get Scott on the walkie-talkie, I'm sure I was so excited he didn't know what the hell was going on.  Two minutes later he was jetting off to the grocery store to get me chocolate.

My internet was down this morning so I had no idea what was going on, except that I saw the chopper just after 9am fly over my place toward the gravel pit, where it lands.  When I finally got internet back at almost 2pm Scott said he'd dropped the package off at the door of Fireweed Helicopters before work this morning, there was no one there. 

Another neighbour, Brent, just dropped by and he was carrying a package!!!!  You can imagine just how excited I was.  In the package there was lots of chocolate as well as gummy bears and brie (my honey knows me so well).  Underneath those was my birthday present...a beautiful new pair of moose-skin moccasains (that I haven't even tried on yet...that's how excited I was to tell you all that I got chocolate!). 

So I'm once again a happy camper.  I hope everyone is doing as well as I am. 
I'm going to try on my moccasains!  I'll post pictures next time I run the generator, promise.

03:56 - Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 10

Not much to say about freeze-up today except that the forecast is for colder weather; -20s it's saying. So that's positive.  I'm just doing a little prepping today for the coming cold:  straw for dogs, kindling for me.

So I'm gonna talk about other stuff today.  Like how much I love facebook.  Are you on Facebook?  It's totally keeping me entertained during freeze-up, though I'm having to run the generator way too often.  My new friends, Evelyn and Heather, are especially keeping me entertained.  Thanks Ladies.  We'll have you over for games when this is done.  Anyways...Facebook.  Since signing up for facebook a few weeks ago I've chatted with old friends from schooldays, including my best friend growing up, Dixie.  I hadn't talked to her in more than ten years.  And like so many old friends, she's (practically) married and with children.  I've also chatted with old boyfriends and even the boy I lost my virginity with.  How funny is that?  I've send a few messages that haven't been responded to as of yet but am hopeful.  I admit that I have left a few jilted lovers in my wake.  So anyways, I love Facebook.  It's way better than classmates and it's quite interactive and fun.  I highly recommend it.  Soon the whole computing world will be on facebook.

The other thing I want to talk about today comes from something my friend Heather said.  She said she wishes she was funny.  Well, I wish I was funny too.  Some people are beautiful.  Some people are smart.  Some people are funny.  I want to be funny.  My kid, Moe, now there's a funny/witty kid!  She always has been.  I remember when she was very little she was always trying to make up jokes.  Even at such a young age she would often make me laugh my ass off.  She could (can) do impersonations, too.  I remember walking home from school one day and she bursts out, in this hilarious accent, "I love peaches.  Brought some home for me dog" which is from a computer game we'd been playing at the time.  I don't know if I ever laughed so hard in my life.  But look, it's not funny at all when I tell it.  Not fair.  If I was funny I'd comment more on your blogs, I swear.  But I always look at all the super witty, funny comments already posted and can come up with nothing anywhere near as interesting to say on my own.  They should give funny comment courses online.  Do you know...I only know one joke.  One.  It's a damned funny joke (way too dirty to post here:) but it's still the only one i know.  Now I know nobody is reading my blog because of the humour, you all are here because either a) you feel obligated; or b) you always wanted to live in the north. But still, I wish my blog was funny. 

that's my rant for the day.  thank you.

01:47 - Sunday, November 4, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Day 8

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted in a few days.  It's been quiet. 

Temperatures are still very warm:  high of like -6 today! So the end of freeze-up is nowhere in sight.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  It's very nice having all this time to myself:  for schoolwork and just hangin with the mutts and takin care of myself and only myself (and the animals, of course).  But then again, I miss my honey.   And I'm out of chocolate.  Both of things suck big time.  I'm kind of bored, too. 

I've had lots of visitors.  My favorite was Halloween.  Just after I'd put up a few decorations a friend, Anna, showed up for a visit and shortly after she arrived we had trick or treaters!  Holly and Kirsten brought their great 2 boys and another boy in tow.  They had great costumes but my favorite belonged to their youngest son who wore a puppy-dog suit with a cone around his neck.  The very same cone I gave them to put around their dog's neck after it came out of surgery a week ago yesterday.  Fabulous.  And Holly was a close second walking around with a jack o' lantern over his head.  Very funny, I tell you.  They stayed for awhile (7 people is too many in my little house! Especially when 3 of them are little boys) and then I sent them on their way with the rest of my chocolate and a promise that they could come hang out with me one day and read stories.  Unfortunately almost immediately after they left I broke out in some of the worst hives I've ever had in my life and some of them are still lingering even today.  Weird.  I must have been allergic to something someone was wearing or something.  So, instead of going out to visit and play games with friends, I stayed inside and lit lots of candles and watched horror movies and scratched.  Fun, huh?

So that was my most exciting day thus far during freeze-up.  Most days are about the same:  I get up around 9:15am (there's not much point in getting up earlier as I have to stumble around in the dark if I do, though it's still pretty darned dim at 9:15 with sunrise not being until after 10am now), feed the wood stove, feed the dogs, go for my walk to feed and visit Keno, haul a load of wood inside, start the generator if need be, and then I'm ready to start my day.  Today I did laundry for the first time finally.  Only the essentials though...water is like gold right now.  I should have taken pictures so you all could see my wonderwash and spin dryer being put to use...I'll try to remember next time.

This morning, on my walk to feed Keno, there was fresh snow and so I was able to see fresh fox prints following the path and then further on there were fresh rabbit prints.  Funny though, there were never fox and rabbit prints on the path at the same spot.  I wonder if mr. fox found mr rabbit and had him for breakfast. 

If the river is passable, Scott is going to try to borrow a boat this weekend.  I'm not counting on it though.  It's pretty doubtful.  There's a lot of slush in the river I'm told, though I haven't been down in a couple of days to look at it myself.  Oh I hope he can come!  He can bring me chocolate!  How will I get through the next few weeks without chocolate?  Life could be over. 

Anyways, sorry for the boring post.  Maybe something exciting will happen soon.  If it does, I promise to post about it.

Hope you all had a very happy halloween!

UPDATE:  I just had an unexpected visitor.  A neighbour I've only barely met one time (they're all neighbours on this side doesn't matter where they live) pulled up and started hauling blug jugs (water) out of his truck.  I turned and looked and sure enough, the 4 empty jugs I've been putting on my deck are gone.  This guy, well...Guy is his name, and Greg, another neighbour had picked them up earlier while I was out walking, I guess.  They filled them at a creek somewhere.  HOW NICE IS THAT!!!?.  I love West Dawson. 

And yes...if you did the math you'll see that I'm only using an average of 2.5 gallons of water per day.  How much do you use?   Puts things in perspective, don't it?   And I promise I'm not filthy dirty, nor is my house. 

01:08 - Friday, November 2, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment